Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT) Could Be a Great Choice

All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and, of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.Based in Helena, Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 13.96%. Currently paying a dividend of $0.14 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.26%. In comparison, the Banks - Midwest industry's yield is 2.91%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.52%.Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.57 is up 0.9% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.76%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Eagle Bancorp Montana's current payout ratio is 40%, meaning it paid out 40% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.Looking at this fiscal year, EBMT expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $1.70 per share, with earnings expected to increase 37.10% from the year ago period.From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers its shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that EBMT is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).#1 Semiconductor Stock to Buy (Not NVDA)The incredible demand for data is fueling the market's next digital gold rush. As data centers continue to be built and constantly upgraded, the companies that provide the hardware for these behemoths will become the NVIDIAs of tomorrow.One under-the-radar chipmaker is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. It specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (EBMT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks